On the Battlefield
by DragonStorm85
Summary: One-shot. Prequel to Grieving Anguish. Because even the greatest shinobi, no matter what his strength and prowess, can be brought down by tragedy. Not all stories end happily ever after, and what happens to those who are left behind to pick up the pieces?


**Fandom: **Naruto

**Pairing(s): **SasuTen, LeeHina, one sided NejiTen, foced NejiHina

**Warning(s): **Character deaths; spousal abuse

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing but these words.

**Note**: Prequel to the songfic _Grieving Anguish_ and part of a trilogy of one-shots, maybe a quartet of one-shots since I have a request concerning the plot of these.

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It was a simple mission. All we had to do was scout out the old warehouse where Orochimaru was supposed to be hiding. None of us had expected any trouble to come from it. We were supposed to be in and out of there within minutes, unseen. Then again, she was always a magnet for trouble, whether she was looking for it or not. And none of us really expected that the traitorous leaf-nin was setting a trap for our commanding officer.

The sun had already set and the night creatures were comfortably out of their hiding places. Our squad was littered around the compound watching while Lee and Tenten were making their way to the side entrance. Crouched beside me was our team captain, Sasuke Uchiha, quietly whispering orders to our teammates through the communicator in his ear. The same device was given to Tenten before she and Lee had left so that we could keep verbal contact with them and monitor their progress.

"Just hurry up so we can get home," he whispered in a more serious tone, "I promised Keiko that we'd read her and Ren a bedtime story."

A smirk flitted across his face as the communicator chattered with her reply. He whispered something else to her before turning his attention to the building and its surrounding area with a look of caution and concern. All was eerily quiet as we anxiously waited for them to come out. But with Lee's speed and Tenten's agility working together to survey the building, we were expecting no complications. So when I saw Sasuke tense up beside me, I became concerned.

"What is it?" I asked in a demanding tone.

But he was unable to respond, choosing rather to hold a hand over the communicator in his ear to drown out all other sounds. I started to get a little suspicious when the Uchiha's brows furrowed in concentration. His eyes were wide in alarm as he listened in to the other end of the line, the communicator buzzing and cracking with noise at what it was picking up.

"Tenten?" he called suddenly, "Tenten!"

He was frantic, something that you never saw from the usually cool Uchiha heir. And I knew then that something had gone wrong. But despite that, I was still surprised when the entire structure suddenly exploded with the two of them still inside. The force of the blast knocked us all back towards the trees, shooting with it a cloud of debris. Once the initial shock wore off, we all looked on as what was left of the warehouse was engulfed in flames from the burning field.

"No," I heard Sasuke whisper in horror.

Immediately concerned about the well-being of my teammates, I rushed forward in hopes that I would be able to find them safe among the rubble. Not far behind me I could hear the rushed footsteps of our commanding officer. Using my Byakuugen to search through the wreckage, I could clearly see the apprehension he had for his wife. Years ago, such a show of emotion would have never been seen in the young Uchiha's face. Then again, Tenten always did have an amazing effect on people. After all, it was her smile that finally melted the ice surrounding my heart.

The entire field was littered with the wreckage of the blast, the ground charred from the overwhelming flames. When we finally found her still form, she was unconscious and trapped under a large metal pillar. Her body as well as some debris from the explosion had landed several feet away from the foundation of the building. Stealing a glance towards my commanding officer, we both wordlessly agreed to a plan and proceeded to lift the offending object off of her.

With help from the other shinobis in our squad, we had managed to free her from the weight of the beam. But my breath caught in my throat when I saw that she was still unconscious. A feeling of actual concern took over my being as I took Tenten's limp form into his arms.

"Tenten, talk to me," I called softly, hiding the concern in my voice, "Come on, wake up."

There was a soft moan of pain as she started to wake up. Her brows furrowed together in confusion as her head rolled around towards the sound of my voice. Relief washed over me as I saw the hazel color of her eyes. But I knew something was wrong when she squinted at me in a confused manner.

"Sasuke?" she questioned, unsure who's arms she was in.

"I'm right here," the Uchiha said, wordlessly taking his wife into his arms.

I stood there for a moment, debating on whether to stay or to leave the two of them alone when a call from a few feet away stole my attention. They had finally found Lee's body. The group gathered around his body parted as I approached, each refusing to look me directly in the eye. Upon seeing him, I couldn't help but flinch at the extensive damage he had taken. His body was charred and blackened by the heat of the blast. The only thing that remained recognizable was his face, frozen in a peaceful expression.

_He took the brunt of the blast to save her_, I realized, seeing that he was far more injured than Tenten was.

"Get the stretchers," I called, closing my eyes to the image before me.

"But Neji -" someone attempted to protest.

"Tenten is still alive and I'm not going to leave him here to be buzzard food," I said sternly, cutting them off before they could say anything in protest.

As the lower-ranked ninjas went to work in loading Lee's body onto a stretcher, I glanced over at Sasuke's form looming over his dear spouse. Curious to know how well the kunoichi was fairing, I strolled over to see. My eyes widened in horror at the sight of both Tenten and Sasuke sitting in a pool of blood; Tenten's blood. She was in the middle of a bad coughing fit, spewing out more of the life sustaining liquid that she needed.

"What's going on?" I asked urgently, kneeling down beside them.

"Isn't it obvious, Neji?" Tenten managed to say, a morbid undertone laced in her blunt statement, "I'm dying."

"No, I won't let it end like this," the Uchiha stated demandingly, "Stay with me."

"It's too late to save me," she said softly after the fit had passed, "Please, the two of you just need to let me go."

"Tenten, you have to fight it," I said in protest, "Lee didn't sacrifice himself just so you could die."

"Don't blame yourself," she whispered weakly, as if not hearing my last comment about Lee, "It was no one's fault."

Her head feel back to stare at the night sky as both Sasuke and I turned to look at each other, neither of us sure who she was speaking to. With great foreboding he turned back to the bleeding kunoichi in his arms. I saw his brows furrowed together, powerless to help his dying wife.

"I love you," she finally mumbled with her last breath, her voice barely audible.

And with that her eyes closed forever, the last image she would ever see being the twinkling lights of the stars overhead. I felt a tingle at the corners of my eyes as Sasuke brought her still form achingly to his chest. Tears were flowing freely from his eyes while he held back the quiet sobs of mourning. Closing my eyes to the image before me, I turned my head and willed away my own tears. She was gone, off to join Lee in whatever mission that laid beyond death.

In a matter of hours, I had managed to lose both my teammates. But the more difficult task was at hand. I would have the displeasure of telling Hinata and the twins about Lee and Tenten, knowing that Sasuke wouldn't have the heart to tell his children about their mother's death. I wasn't too worried about Keiko and Ren, they were too young to understand the concept of death. But Hinata was a different story, fore she had loved Lee with all her heart.

It destroyed me seeing her collapse to her knees when she heard the news. But found it hard for me to feel any sympathy for her. After all, she had managed to find the love of her life. She had been free to entertain and explore the concept of finding a precious person while I had been blinded by ambition and desire to even see the missed opportunities that were right in front of me.

"I was a fool," I remember saying to myself.

-x-

Now here I am sitting in the very field in which she took her last breath, punishing myself for my idiocy. Every year I come back to this place, taking a break from my shattered life to just sit here in the place where we all lost her forever. It was there that I truly understood what I had and realized all the time that I had wasted.

Because her beauty was at its peak when she was fighting. A smile that could brighten up my darkened world could easily turn into a cocky smirk, just as easily able to change into a show of determination. The glint in her eyes that showed the mischievous plans she always had for surprising the enemy could easily turn into a glitter of excitement for the upcoming battle. And just as easily they could turn into unshed tears for all the allies that we had lost on the road to victory. And then I would find myself smiling at her image, morbidly knowing that I would never see it again.

So there I stood on the battlefield, a bottle of sake in hand to fill my empty heart. Because with the image came an unyielding sorrow that I couldn't face. A sorrow that blinded my judgment every time I would come back to the home that the clan had built for me; built for Hinata. And as the sorrow slowly boiled into anger I would tell Keiko and Ren to go to bed, loving kissing them on the head as the sight of them brought up the image of their mother.

Then as they shut the bedroom door behind them I would be reminded of who their father was, scowling at the thought that someone else had the life that should have been mine. That was when Hinata would bring up her concerns about us taking the twins away from their father.

"They are his children with Tenten," she would protest meekly, "We have no right to keep them."

It was only temporary at first, Hinata offering to take the twins while Sasuke grieved for his loss in the confines of the Uchiha compound. But the more time I spent with those kids of the weapon goddess known as Tenten, the less willing I was to part from them. And it was during these alcohol-induced fits that I raised my hand to her, reminding her that we had won custody of them fair and square.

"He was unfit to be their father," I would slur.

And then I would strike her with an empty mind until either she submitted to my will or until I passed out from the toxic state. All the while I would long to be back on this battlefield where I had lost my sanity; where her memory was strongest. Because it was there on the battlefield that she was always at her best…there on that battlefield where she was always mine.

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**AN**: I hope that helped to explain what was going on in _Grieving Anguish_.


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